Knoydart residents toast pub landmark community buyout
The UK’s remotest pub will open its doors once more in a few weeks thanks to a landmark community buyout.
After decades of private ownership, residents of the Knoydart peninsula have bought their local pub The Old Forge in Inverie.
Over the last 14 months, residents have been fundraising in an effort to buy their only local pub and join the growing list of community-owned and managed pubs in Scotland.
Locals had raised more than £320,000 through a community share offer and Crowdfunder.
They also received funding support from the Scottish Land Fund and Community Ownership Fund to secure enough capital to buy the building and undertake essential renovations.
The pub is known to many as the Guinness World Records’ ‘Remotest Pub in Mainland Britain’ and is now owned by The Old Forge Community Benefit Society (CBS) – a community company which acts on behalf of residents and shareholders who invested in the project.
Stephanie Harris, CBS secretary, said: ‘We are ecstatic that after so many months of hard work we have been successful in securing the pub for the community.
‘The Old Forge plays such an important role in Knoydart’s social, culture and economic sustainability and with the business now in the community’s hands, we can steer it forward in a way that will work for the needs of locals and the thousands of visitors who come every year.’
Under the community ownership model, profits will be reinvested back into business, not shareholders, and into projects that deliver wider community benefit.
The Knoydart community has a track record of successful community ownership, having secured 17,500 acres of the Knoydart Estate in 1999 as one of the first community buyouts in Scotland.
Now the next phase of the project begins as the committee prepare for relaunching the pub in a few weeks.
‘We haven’t been able to access the building up to this point, except for when our building inspectors were permitted entry for valuation purposes,’ added Stephanie.
‘The inspection identified essential work to make the building safe and fit-forpurpose, so we plan to open on a drinks-only basis for the first few months until we can renovate the kitchen.
‘All going well, we hope to re-open at Easter weekend, but we’ll confirm this nearer the time.
‘We’re in the process of hiring staff and already have a number of residents lined up which is great and means we are achieving one of our goals to provide new local employment.’
To keep up to date on all the Knoydart pub news follow The Old Forge CBS page Facebook page at https://www. facebook.com/theoldforgecbs/ videos/1305823203232273.